2013 is in the books and dreams do come true!

2013 was nothing short of pretty spectacular, and although I have already set my eyes on what once used to be just my wildest dreams, later long terms, and now short term goals, I have to take a moment to reflect on the DREAM 2013! I'll try to keep it short, but you may want to grab a cup of coffee, glass of wine or a doughnut or two! ;) 

January:

I jumped both feet into "racing", and attempted to defend my 2012 NorthEast Multisport Indoor Time Trial in NH. 

 It started off all smiles

 And quickly turned into very painful “fun” J. I did defend my title and 2013 was off to a great start! 

February:

 Superbowl Sunday 5 miler - the day I only heard two words for the entire 5 miles "Push It" Good benchmark for what was to come

Not even “Nemo” storm that cancelled my 2^nd Indoor Time Trial of the year could stop the USPS from delivering  the message of the year!

"Welcome to the United States of America! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to permanent resident status in the United States!"

Huge weight was lifted of my shoulders! The waiting game was over, and I could finally travel anywhere hassle free!

March:

I went to E3 training camp in Tuscon, AZ, and climbed Mt. Lemmon! 

 How can you NOT smile? Mt. Lemmon is the most awesome climb EVER, and I am wearing short sleeves in March (bonus) !

 I wasted no time, and was able to combine a work trip to Austria and Sweden with a quick stop in the Czech Republic! I also got to spend my birthday with my family for the first time in 13 years! There was cake too, but I think I ate it before I even thought about taking any pictures! Duh! 

I then closed out the month off with my first ever 5K (19:57) and started the podium streak. Yeah I know it took me this long to run a 5K! 

April:

The work travel continued and this time I got to visit and get a few runs in by the famous Niagara Falls 

 I fell in love with sushi, but my wallet didn't! Just call me "bottomless pit"! 

May: 

The travel has finally died down, training has picked up, and so did the size of my snacks! What can I say - I LOVE to eat and fuel my body! #feedthemachine

I finally showed myself that I can run, and broke my goal of running sub 1:30 1/2 marathon. I am not sure if it was me or Jorge who was more excited to see 1:27:39 on the clock! He trotted along side of me because why not just jog next to your athletes on a brisk May Sunday morning, right ?

I had also crashed the BTT training weekend at Waterville Valley and got in some great miles with lots of climbing!

June:

Let the race season begin!

 I kicked of my racing season in style with my personal best on the unforgiving Quassy 70.3 course, posting the fastest amateur female bike split,winning my Age Group and coming in 2nd overall. 

2 weeks later, I got to do it all over again, this time racing in the Elite division of a local 70.3, and winning my very first overall title! I had the fastest overall female bike split again, but more importantly I also set a new 1/2 marathon PR running of the bike, and brought home a little $ :)

And because June wasn't busy enough, I spent few days up in the mountains of VT having tons of fun with the crew. I also learned it's never too late to start on the jet fuel a.k.a Coca Cola because it may just bring you back from the "dead". 

July: 

I ventured into short course racing, and although I wasn't exactly able to shake the 70.3 watts and run pace,  the effort was there, and I still ended up with the fastest female bike split. My run left me hungry for more, but I did win my AG, and because this was the Northeast Regional Championship, I now have a "Northeast Olympic AG Regional Champion" title to my name :)

My youngest and biggest fan (Gracie) came to cheer me on! Gracie grew up watching me swim and so she thinks anyone wearing a swim suit in a magazine is me! I am her cover girl and the best swimmer in the world! (Little does she know)

August: 

My first A race of the season was on the horizon. Train hard, recover harder! 

I met my new buddy Brock, and spend some quality time with him and his parents on their boat! Summers in New England rock!

First A race of the season, another fastest female bike split this time only getting outdone by the speedy pro Melissa Hauschildt, 70.3 PR and a slot for the 2014 Mt. Tremblant World Championships. 1st mission accomplished! 

September:  

Back to training and eating, and training and eating some more. Between work and training, September was gone in a blink of an eye. 

 My goal was just to continue to get fitter ... 

                                                       And this is certainly very accurate!  

October:

October started off with our annual sales meeting which is always quiet the production, but standing on my feet all day and night although not exactly the best prep for a 70.3 proved to not bother me.  I was already in Florida, and I figured what better way to end a busy week than race one more 70.3 and hopefully in the heat to get ready for Cozumel IM.

Rev3 Anderson turned out awesome, and was a huge confidence booster going into my last training block before IM Cozumel.  Although I didn't exactly have a stellar swim and bike, I was again able to post the fastest overall female bike split, and start the run as the overall women's leader. That meant a lead biker, which was one of the coolest experiences yet. I didn't want her to fall of her bike because I was going too slow, so I had no choice but to keep the pace up, and as a result was finally able to run that sub 1:30 1/2 marathon off the bike! Finally reaching one of the goals I worked so hard for surprisingly leaving me hungry for more! ;) Winning the overall women's title and becoming the USAT Long Course National Champion was just an icing on the cake.

November:

The weather turned a bit chilly, and since I was trying to get ready for a hot and flat race that Cozumel IM can be, I spent a lot of time on the trainer.

My Saturday's were spent on my Fireball sweating away, because why not just say goodbye to the fan, and try to acclimate to the heat. Let's just say that spending 5 hours on the trainer helps to build some serious mental toughness. I can't say  I may have shed a tear or two a few times because I was being a baby and just didn't want to do it anymore!

I was creating pools of sweat in my shoes so I even tried to use sweatbands on my ankles, but had no luck. At least I was styling, right? Riiiiight? ;)   

Laundry became almost a daily chore (This is the damage after 5 hours)

Fuel for 5 hours on the bike

December:

December couldn't come fast enough. THE race was finally here.

No details needed and you can read all about my race on this blog, but Cozumel was a blast, and it all just came together. It was no by no means perfect, but that's what keeps me coming back for more! This will always be my first overall IM win. :)

I even made it into the czech media a few times, and am very honored to make the list of "Best of Czech Triathletes"  on the international scene in 2013 by E Triatlon. 

http://www.etriatlon.cz/triatlon/37114_best_of_v_podani_ceskych_zavodniku.html

Being mentioned as part of such accomplished field of professional triathletes  who have competed and placed at the Olympics, World and European Championships and are winning races or race series at the pro level whether it be ITU, WTC, or Rev3 feels great and I am very honored!.

Having such an awesome season, and adding the USAT "Northeast Olympic AG Regional Champion" , USAT "Long Course National Champion" titles to my name, along with a couple of overall amateur wins all in the same season doesn't happen overnight. Hard work, dedication and the will to succeed are just a few ingredients that helped me to get to where I am today. No one believed in me more than my family/friends who put up with my crazy/hectic schedule, and of course the whole E3 Training Solutions crew and my coaches Jorge Martinez, and Karen Vasso.  Everyone mentioned above should really be standing on every podium with me and simple THANK YOU just isn’t enough. Thank you ALL! 

Topping 2013 won't be easy, but my dream season has shockingly left me hungry for more. There are no secrets in my world, and 2014 is the year that I plan on conquering the world! ;) Mt. Tremblant 70.3 World Championship and Kona … I am coming for you! :)

Cozumel Race Report - Part 4 - THE "KA-BOOOM" RUN

THE RUN : 3:41:06 (7^th fastest amateur run)
I stormed into T2, and it was EMPTY! Similar to T1, I had about 10 people just staring at me . Due to my lack of Spanish I figured it was just faster to take care of myself. I dumped the content of my bag on the ground, helmet off/visor on, socks/shoes on, gels in hand, race belt on, and cooling towel/ around the neck. 1 minute and 29 seconds later, I was out! 

I have been feeling very strong running for a few months, and my last 70.3 race performance had left me wanting more! (I have been eyeing that sub 1:30 in a 70.3 for a while now, but it all finally came together back in October - huge confidence booster for Cozumel!) My long training runs have been suggesting I could run anywhere around 3:20 give or take few minutes in either direction.  The difference this year vs. the past – I really believed I could. I didn’t question, I just knew I had it in me. Unfortunately, as my final time suggests – I blew it!

As great as I paced the bike, the exact opposite happened on the run.  I was so excited to run, that I couldn’t slow down! I was running through town looking down at my watch and seeing sub 7 min paces! I knew that wasn’t good, and my exact thoughts went something like this:

“Jorge is going to kill me. Slow down! Slow down! Slow down now! Jorge will not be happy, you are NOT supposed to run any faster than 7:55s, slow the beep down!

Yet I kept looking at my watch, and even though I consciously tried slowing down I swear, I just couldn’t. I clocked my first mile at just over 7 min mile pace and that’s only because I kept seeing 6:30, 6:45 pace on my watch over and over again, until I finally slowed down to a shuffle in the last quarter mile of that first mile. After that I was able to settle into more of a sustainable pace for the next 8 miles (7:40s)! Still a touch too fast but I was feeling like a million bucks. However it wasn’t too long before the wheels started to fall off! 

Lap 1 - Still interested in my surroundings and saying Hi to Bri

I kept going through my usual routine and grabbing whatever ice I could find at each aid station. It was ice down the bra, ice down the shorts, water, pepsi and a gel every 30 min or so. Some aid stations also had these awesome bags of ice!  I could care less I was carrying a 10lbs bag of ice. I held on to it until it melted away each time!

 Note a huge ice bag in my left hand

 You get a better look here! It was so cold my hands were literally frozen! 

It was definitely hot and the sun was beating down like it hasn’t shined in over a week – oh wait, it didn’t! Unfortunately or fortunately I cannot blame my crappy run performance on the heat. I was doing a great job of staying relatively cool but my legs were not cooperating. With each mile, my legs were getting louder and louder telling my brain to just take a little break.  

Happy camper no more! This is the leave me alone look or just no look at all. 

That rockstar feeling was long gone! :(  So what does one do with two VERY angry legs and 13 miles to go? Shuffle – yup yup yup – I was doing the marathon shuffle! It was all about moving forward instead of backwards. My right quad felt like it was going to cramp up with every step, but I had to keep on moving. My pace kept dropping – the WRONG direction, but I was just glad I was moving! 

Ice is now gone, and I am literally just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Probably no need to hold on to that empty plastic bag! 

Then it happened!

Explosion of epic proportions!

Miles 18 through 23 were NOT pretty!  If you asked me to run 9+ min miles in training, I can't slow down enough, yet in that moment that was almost too fast! It really was NOT pretty! Then the sky literally opened up, and within minutes streets were flooded with ankle deep water.

I guess the sky isn't blue anymore! 

You can see the rain! 

I was happy about the sun being gone, but I wasn't thrilled with actually having to pick my feet up!

 I think I am just trying to distract myself from the pain 

The water didn’t allow for much of a shuffle. I tried to pick up the pace AND my feet as much as my body would allow, which still meant a high 8 min pace for the last 3 miles, but it was about a 30+ second drop in pace – this time in the right direction so I suppose that is what my “all out” pace was at end of this race.

Oh right quad, please do not cramp up, oh and thank you blister on the bottom of my left foot for popping with only few miles left

It was no Alii’ Drive, but coming down the finish line was absolutely amazing! It was different from my first IM finish, but it was just as special. I think the pictures tell the story the best!

 Me and my right quad ARE going to make it! ;) 

 Try wiping that happiness of my face

 Just try ;) 

 Yup, I totally clapped for myself 

Probably the first time I felt good running since mile 10! Amazing how running through the finish line makes you forget the pain! (only till you stop though ;) ) 

Final Time: 9:35:01 ... 1st Overall Amateur Female, 11th Overall including Pro's. Now where is the chair? 

I crossed the finish line absolutely spent! I had no idea what my overall time was, I had no idea what place I finished at, but I knew I left it all out there. I found a chair, and sat there ... sat there for a LONG LONG time!  (Definitely probably close to 2 hours). Getting up off that chair just wasn't an option - and I was afraid - literally afraid to get up. I attempted a few times, but my quads weren't having any of it so I sat there longer. I got to chat with fellow czech pro triathletes who found me (since I wasn't moving), and couple of very nice volunteers fed me bananas - I think I ate at least three before I mustered up the energy to actually stand up, and smile for the camera again! 

Happy Czech :) 

It was only a few days later until everything really sunk in. I was pretty open about what I wanted to do in Cozumel. I came here to win. I came here to win my age group, and I also wanted to win the overall amateur title. I don't know why, but I just knew I could. I had this special feeling. Someone had asked me couple of days before the race how I will do, and I didn't even think about it, and said: "I am going to win" ... it just came out like that. I knew that if I can put together all the pieces of puzzles, and do what I have done in training, I would have a chance ... and then it happened!

This was awesome! I could get used to this ;)

 I told you it would be hard to get that smile off my face :)

I did it! I left it all out there, I had a near perfect race that although I am extremely excited about, left me wanting more! Left me wanting more because I know there is more where that came from. That overall time could have easily read 9:15 just based on my race day fitness, but not to worry - I have learned my lesson and I will be back in 2014 stronger and faster. Aloha baby! ;) 

Some post race drinks were in order! Thanks Tyler and Brett for the help although I really didn't need it ;)

 And with that my 2013 season also known as the "Dream season" (the title of my next post) comes to an end!